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Tuesday, January 15, 2013

News Update: 15th of January 2013

WELCOME to this week's Family Lore News Update.

NEWSFather jailed over Atiya Anjum-Wilkinson abduction fails in release bid
A father who abducted his daughter and took her to Pakistan has failed in his High Court bid to be released from prison. Full story: BBC News.

No 50-50 sharing of children in new divorce law, says top judge
Parents going through divorce are being “ridiculous” if they think new laws will give them equal access to their children, says Britain’s leading family court judge. Full story: Daily Express.

The Care Inquiry draws to close with final session
Final report and recommendation will be published in Spring 2013. Full story: Family Law Week.

Husband tricked into believing wife's children were his awarded £25,000 damages
A husband has won £25,000 in damages for “bereavement” after his wife tricked him into believing children whom he raised until they were teenagers were his rather than the products of affairs. Full story: The Telegraph.

Adoption map launched to encourage would-be adopters
A
new map showing the number of children waiting to be adopted in
different parts of England is being published by the government. Full story: BBC News. See also this post by me.

'Adoption hotspots' map a gimmick not a solution
The Government’s ‘adoption hotspots’ map launched today showing authorities with the highest number of children waiting for adoption was described as a “simplistic approach” to a complex subject by BASW’s Acting Chief Executive Bridget Robb. Full story: BASW News.

Pregnant woman with mental health impairments avoids order for abortion
A pregnant woman with significant mental health impairments will not have to undergo an abortion after a senior judge ruled that she had enough capacity to decide whether she wanted to become a mother. Full story: The Independent.

Civil partnership recognised as 'marriage' by court
Two architects who took part in a civil partnership ceremony in Britain have become the first such couple to be officially recognised as “married”. Full story: The Telegraph.

December care applications 4% up on previous year
In December 2012, Cafcass received a total of 847 applications. This is a 4.3% increase on December 2011 levels, though it is 11% down on November 2012 levels, probably due to the seasonal reduction in demand that occurs each December. Full story: Family Law Week.

PRACTICE GUIDANCELaw Society Practice Note of 9 January 2013: Attendance of Solicitors at Local Authority Children Act Meetings
On 9 January 2013, the Law Society issued a Practice Note on attendance of solicitors at local authority Children Act meetings.

CASESI (A Child) [2012] EWCA Civ 1765 (20 November 2012)
Appeal against placement order on basis that special guardianship order was not considered. Appeal dismissed. Full report: Family Law Week.

F (Children) [2012] EWCA Civ 1793 (15 November 2012)
Appeal by mother against order changing the residence of the children. Appeal dismissed. Full report: Family Law Hub.

Bristol City Council v C & Ors [2012] EWHC 3748 (Fam) (21 December 2012)
Application for a reporting restriction order arising out of care proceedings. Full report: Bailii. See also the blog posts by the UK Human Rights Blog and suesspiciousminds, below.

H (A Child) [2012] EWCA Civ 1700 (26 October 2012)
Care proceedings. Appeal by local authority against order which had the effect of adjourning the proceedings for thee months, and to direct an independent social work assessment of a couple who had been involved with the mother. Appeal dismissed. Full report: Family Law Week.

E (A Child) [2012] EWCA Civ 1773 (22 November 2012)
Appeal involving the issue of whether the court is prevented by Section 100 of the Children Act from making a child a ward of court, where the child is accommodated voluntarily under Section 20 of the Act. Full report: Family Law Week.

W (Children) [2012] EWCA Civ 1767 (28 November 2012)
Application by father for permission to appeal against refusal to make contact order. Application refused. Full report: Family Law Week.

F (A Child) [2012] EWCA Civ 1770 (8 November 2012)
Care proceedings. Application for permission to appeal against refusal of application for contact, brought by the Official Solicitor on behalf of the father. Application granted and appeal allowed. Full report: Family Law Week.

C (Children) [2012] EWCA Civ 1766 (14 November 2012)
Care proceedings. Appeal by father against order suspending contact. Appeal dismissed. Full report: Family Law Week.

A v A [2012] EWHC (13 December 2012)
Financial remedy case in which the court drew adverse inferences against the husband, due to his failure to make full disclosure and participate in the proceedings. Report: Family Law.

Ball v Andorra ECHR (App No 40628/10) (11 December 2012)
Father alleged that the refusal of the High Court of Andorra to enforce a final parent/child contact order had violated his right to maintain meaningful contact with his two children. Held, there had been no breach of the father's rights under the European Convention. Report: Family Law. Full report: ECHR. See also this post by me.

Akhtar v Hussain [2012] EWCA Civ 1762 (20 November 2012)
Order that the parties beneficially entitled to a half share in the property which they occupied as an unmarried couple. Appeal in respect of occupation rent. Appeal allowed in part. Full report: Bailii.

ARTICLESEvidence, Practice and Procedure: Stare decisis does not apply where statute overrides"Two recent decisions of the Court of Appeal has allowed family law cases on grounds that stare decisis did not apply because decisions of the court were wrong." David Burrows delves once again into his book of Latin legal phrases in this article on Family Law.

What do you call a judge and how much to pay for the privilege?
"Two developments late last year in Australia have interesting reflections for other countries, and give timely warnings and alerts of potential government actions", says David Hodson on Family Law.

Evidence, practice and procedure: Inquisitorial (non-adversarial) v Adversarial
"Spare a thought for the front-line circuit or district judge who is told, often enough, by the Court of Appeal that family proceedings are non-adversarial; and then is criticised by the same Court of Appeal as ‘absurd'", says the busy David Burrows in another article on Family Law.

A Second Bite at the Cherry..? Applying for a Rehearing in Family Proceedings
Rodney Noon, solicitor, looks at the scope for bringing a family law case back before the first instance court and asking it to ‘think again’, in this article on Family Law Week.

BLOG POSTSJoint property ownership and TOLATA claims.
"The Law Society and Land Registry have today published a Practice Note in relation to joint property ownership. Whilst it has been addressed for all those involved with conveyancing it is also a good aide memoire for those of us who undertake TOLATA claims." Full post: marksageblogs.

Semantics, pedantics and Neuro-mantics
"A discussion of the fascinating “Blinded by neuroscience – social policy, the family and the infant brain” paper by David Wastell and Sue White", complete with another painful title, in this post by suesspiciousminds.

Identity of social workers may be published following fostering bungle
A discussion of Bristol City Council v C and others [2012] EWHC 3748 (Fam) [above]. Full post: UK Human Rights Blog.

The Streisand effect and care proceedings
A discussion of Bristol City Council and Others 2012 [above]. Full post: suesspiciousminds.

Imaginary written submissions
The prolific suesspiciousminds considers what would have happened had Haringey Council applied for an Emergency Protection Order in the Baby P case.

'Benefit cuts will not see more children taken into care; poverty does not equal neglect'
Cafcass is wrong, benefit cuts will not necessarily see more children taken into care, writes child protection consultant Joanna Nicolas. Full post: The Children's Services Blog.

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Nothing in this blog should be construed as legal advice. If you require legal advice upon any family law related matter then you should consult a solicitor. Any links to other blogs or web sites are provided for convenience only and I cannot accept any responsibility for the contents of such linked blogs/sites.